Local Author Emma González Receives Honors

Field Mice: Memoirs of a Migrant Child and Field Mice: Memoirs of a Migrant Child, Children’s Edition were awarded medals on September 9, 2017 at the 19th Annual International Latino Book Awards from the Latino Literacy Now Foundation in Los Angeles, California, co-founded by Edward James Olmos. Field Mice: Memoirs of a Migrant Child won in the category Most Inspirational Non-fiction, and Field Mice: Memoirs of a Migrant Child Children’s Edition won in the category Most Inspirational Non-fiction Youth Book.
Latino Literacy Now Foundation is a nonprofit organization which operates the Educational Programs and community festivals for underserviced audiences around the USA. ILBA, also referred to as the Academy Awards of Latino Literature and Culture, are the largest Latino cultural awards in the US. Due to the growth of International Latino authors’ submissions from the US and 20 Latino countries, 2017 was a record year requiring 196 judges to complete the tasks of judging.
This was Emma González’ first submission to the ILBA as a first-time author.
American-born González wrote and published her books in 2015, her true, young life experiences of ten tumultuous years as a migrant in the 1950s-1960s. Told through insightful vignettes, she tells of the struggles of her family’s survival, her upbringing in a blended family, and credits a Japanese farmer in Ovid, Colorado for saving her life. She attributes her growth to her friends and town’s people, as were a handful of dedicated teachers who helped her succeed in the often sporadic education migrant students have because of their nomadic life. To this date González quotes one of her teachers whose words guided her through life, “You can be more than this.” Since the books’ publication through County Rd 34 Publishings, it has garnered much attention from migrant education programs across the country and those who have lived through the experiences of a migrant life.
González quips, “I am elated to receive these medals. The real winners are the migrant souls, past and present. I hold them dearly in my heart.”